Migrants’ boat comes ashore on hols beach
Sunbathers look on as men flee
A GROUP of desperate migrants landed their battered boat on a busy beach before scattering among stunned holidaymakers.
At least 30 men, believed to be from sub-Saharan Africa, were filmed arriving illegally in southern Spain this week.
They had crammed into a Zodiac inflatable boat to make the eight-mile crossing from Morocco to Costa de la Luz in Cadiz.
One onlooker is heard in mobile phone footage asking, “What’s going on?”, while a man paddling with a child looks shocked as men leap out of the boat next to them.
Some sunbathers fled as the group ran from the sea on Wednesday afternoon, The migrants vanished into surrounding countryside and their whereabouts are unknown. Tourist Carlos Sanz, who shot the video at Zahara de los Atunes beach, said they scattered quickly and police arrived later. Police union chiefs claimed Spain’s Civil Guard was powerless due to lack of resources, with only one officer in the area at the time. The International Organisation for Migration yesterday warned Spain could overtake Greece amid record numbers of refugees and migrants so far this year. Its latest figures show almost 8,200 have arrived – more than triple the number at the same time last year.
At least 120 people have died in the attempt.
IOM spokesman Joel Millman said of migrant numbers: “It’s possible Spain will outperform Greece this year. If so, that’s a big change.”
The IOM also revealed some people even use jet skis to try to reach Spain.
In one of the country’s biggest tragedies this year, 49 migrants died last month when their dinghy capsized during the crossing from Africa. Only three survived and they were rescued by helicopter after two days adrift.
Two armed vessels and planes from European border and coastguard agency Frontex are now out on patrol, though the latest arrivals made it to safety. It comes days after Spain closed the border between its North African enclave Ceuta and Morocco, in response to 200 migrants storming the checkpoint.
Meanwhile IOM helped survivors after smugglers forced up to 180 migrants out of a boat off Yemen yesterday. Five bodies were recovered, with 50 reported missing.
A day earlier, more than 120 migrants were forced into the sea as they neared the country.
It’s possible Spain will outperform Greece this year, a big change JOEL MILLMAN, IOM, ON SOARING MIGRANT LEVELS